Saginaw held serve at home, defeating the Knights on Sunday in Michigan. London won Game 1, 5-2. Blackhawks second rounder (2011) Brandon Saad (pictured) had two goals and an assist for Saginaw, who knocked off likely top 2012 pick Nail Yakubov, top-10 pick Alexander Galyenchuk, and their Sarnia teammates in the first round, 4-2. Namestnikov, whose line was matched up against Saad to start Game 2, has one assist in his last five games. Game 3 is Monday in London. <

Though thereâ€™s no â€œXâ€ next to the team on the USHL standings page, the Storm appear to have clinched a playoff spot by picking up a point Saturday night against Sioux City. Des Moines lost in a shootout and are five points behind Tri-City with two games to play. Wilcox was named first star for the 300th time in the last month it seems, and has backstopped his â€œnewâ€ team from the bottom of the standings into the playoffs. At least one USHL writer has pegged Wilcox (pictured) for goaltender of the year and says he should get MVP consideration. Wilcox is capable of stealing a short series in the playoffs if he gets some offensive help.

Not satisfied with their nine goals in Game 1, the Sea Dogs put up 10 in Game 2 to take a 2-0 series lead over the Drakkar. Gauthier had his seventh goal of the playoffs and was 14/20 on faceoffs. Saint John has outscored their opponents 53-13 in their sixth games. Thatâ€™s just under nine goals a game. And thatâ€™s just silly. Game 3 is Tuesday in at Baie-Comeau.

Teddy Purcell and Steven Stamkos were the game's first and third stars.

This game had just about all the elements you wanted to see to reaffirm that the Lightning, despite the struggles of this season, are on a path to longterm prosperity. Despite all their problems and despite unilaterally disarming at the trade deadline, the club finished 2 games over .500. Yes, there's several things to fix both between the pipes and defensively, as evidenced by the team finishing worst in goals against, but these guys aren't losers, even when the going gets tough. They have the character winning organizations are premised on.

Individually, the big story will obviously be Steven Stamkos' 60th goal and his second Richard Trophy. He's the best young player in the game, but we all knew that. I was far more intrigued by the B stories in this game.

Teddy Purcell's second half seems to me to be a clear sign he's ready to erupt into stardom next season, and the thing Lightning fans should be giddy about is that Teddy can produce on both Stamkos and Lecavalier's line. That gives the coaching staff a lot of flexibility.

Another B story is the young defensemen on this team. These are young guys who bring the kind of elite mobility that Guy Boucher's system really needs, and they started to produce down the stretch of the year. No offense to guys like Pavel Kubina, who did yoeman's work for the team, but the new blood has the pace to play this system the way it ought to be played. I'm looking at Victor Hedman ending the season with points in 7 of his last 9 games. I'm looking at Brian Lee with points in 4 of his last 5 games of the season, and 8 points in 20 games with the Lightning, which pro-rates to a 33 point season. Here are two guys I believe can and should be in the 30-40 point range next year, and, heck, even Eric Brewer was showing more toward the end of the season. You mix in what I believe Brendan Mikkelson has shown, and that's 4 guys to invest some hope in. You go out on the free agent market and add 1-2 more good defenseman and get a healthy Marc-Andre Bergeron into the mix, and you'll get a top-7 that can play Boucher's system well.

Beyond that, there's an obvious need in goal that Steve Yzerman has clearly stockpiled a ridiculous amount of draft picks to address. Between the draft picks and the amount of quality young forward prospects in this organization, I dare say Yzerman will not be outbid by anyone.

And then there's what we can expect to see added from Norfolk and their ongoing 25-game winning streak next year, and the youth in the system, as a whole.. More youth, more speed, and more confidence at the forward position. The likely AHL defenseman of the year in Mark Barberio. Two goaltenders playing out of their minds in Norfolk and another guy in Finland, Riku Helenius, who also just can't seem to lose. It's an embarassment of riches, and you will see a training camp next season where you may very well see darn near 30 NHL caliber players fighting tooth and nail for 23 spots. Good problems to have.

Keith Aulie had 3 hits in 11:48. He's on Norfolk's Clear Day roster, which means he should be sent down after Lightning exit interviews and begin what I feel will be a critical 20-30 games worth of development in his young career. The crucible of the AHL playoffs could make him into a player to be reckoned with.

J.T. Brown got his first NHL point, an assist, and was +2 with 2 shots in 13:52. J.T., my friend, before you leave Tampa, beg Steven Stamkos to let you go train with him with Gary Roberts. Promise him your first born. Do whatever it takes to go spend this offseason getting ready to take the pounding of an 82 game NHL season, because if you do, you might have the talent to be a Calder Trophy winner next season. But, for you, that award will be won in June, July and August, not October through April.

J.T. Wyman was -3 with 1 shot in 13:25. Wyman finishes the season with 40 NHL games, 1 shy of what he needs for graduation from prospect status on BoltProspects. Ain't that a shame? He'll start from scratch next year needing 39 games to graduate via the 82 game rule on the site.

I've never in my life seen a team that is this good late in hockey games. True, they won their fair share of games during the first half of this 25 game winning streak by blowing teams out quickly in the first period, staking themselves to 3 goal leads early. But, that hasn't happened lately. Teams go against the Admirals very prepared and very resolute to try to break the streak from the opening drop of the puck (hence the line brawl in the First Period of tonight's game). So, there's been a lot of games in the second half of the streak that get into the Third Period either tied or one goal games.

Something amazing seems to happen, though, when this team gets down into the final 10 minutes of a hockey game. I don't know if its their young legs. I don't know if it's their team speed. I don't know if it's their unflagging confidence. Whatever it is, this club buries teams late. They don't just get a one goal lead and try to sit on it. They don't just hit and run, they knock you over and then step on your throat.

The Ads will finish their regular season on the road with three games next weekend: Albany Friday, Binghamton Saturday, and Adirondack Sunday.

Ossi Louhivaara's goal at 2:16 of double overtime lifted JYP to a 3-2 Game Three win over Jokerit. JYP and starter Riku Helenius still have yet to lose a game in these playoffs. JYP goes for the sweep on Monday.

In the other Semifinal series, Espoo won 2-1 in OT to cut Lahti's series lead in half at 2-1.

MHL Western Conference Finals (Russia Jr.)
Dimitri Kugryshev's hat trick led CSKA Jr. to a 5-3 Game Two win over Mytischi Jr. CSKA Jr. leads the series 2-0 with Game Three on Tuesday. Nikita Kucherov did not appear for CSKA Jr.

Tri-City dropped a big game on the road against rival Lincoln, but Des Moinesâ€™ loss at home means the Storm stays five points up for the last playoff spot in the West. Both teams have three games remaining.

Thirteenth-seeded Baie-Comeau, fresh off a sweep of fourth-seeded Victoriaville, was no match for top-seeded Saint John, who scored nine against the Drakkar on Friday night to take a 1-0 series lead. Lightning prospect Danick Gauthier scored his sixth of the playoffs in the win and led the team with five hits. Minnesota prospect Zack Phillips had two goals and two assists for the Sea Dogs. Charlie Coyle, another Wild prospect, had a goal, his 10th of the playoffs. Game 2 is Saturday night.

OHL

(W5) Saginaw Spirit 2 @ (W1) London Knights 5 Western Conference Semifinals â€“ London leads best of 7 series 1-0

Predators first rounder Austin Watson had two goals and an assist, including an empty netter to seal the game, as London took Game 1 against Saginaw, 5-2. The Spirit were coming off an upset of fourth-seeded Sarnia in the first round. Namestnikov was scoreless for the third time in the last four games. He started the game alongside former Lightning camper Seth Griffith, who had two assists in Game 1. Game 2 is Sunday in Michigan.

Break out the brooms. Florida scored the gameâ€™s first three goals and held on to sweep the higher-seeded Greenville Road Warriors by winning Game 3, 3-2. Games 1-2 were played in Florida. Carolina prospect John Muse stopped 32 of 34 shots for the win. Lightning prospect Sebastien Piche scored his first of the playoffs and former Clarkson star Matt Beca had two goals for the â€˜Blades, who will face the winner of Elmira and Reading in the next round. Currently Reading leads that series, 2-1.

The Admirals get to Jason Wiemer, and oddly their journey didn't take them to The Hideaway.

BNG-1
NOR-3

Jaroslav Janus allowed 1 goal on 28 shots for the victory. His 21 wins is tied for 12th in the league, as he continues his push to try to give Norfolk two goaltenders in the top-10 in the AHL in victories.

Tyler Johnson, Janus, and Jean-Phillipe Cote were the game's three stars. Johnson becomes the second Admiral to hit 30 goals.

Mark Barberio hit 60 points for the season with his goal tonight. Soak that in for a moment.

24 consecutive victories for the Admirals, and this one happens to clinch the AHL equivalent of the President's Trophy. The club will have home ice throughout the playoffs for as long as they survive. With 4 games left to go in the regular season, the only question left on a team level is who their fiirst round opponent will be, and as of this moment, it would be the Manchester Monarchs. The rest boils down to personal goals. Specifically, will Richard Panik get to 20 goals.

KHL Eastern Conference Finals (Russia):Nikita Nesterov did not play in Game Five, as Omsk closed out top seed Chelyabinsk with a 1-0 shutout win. Ex-Lightning goaltender Karri Ramo made 30 saves for Avangard for the win. This marks the end of Nikita Nesterov's season. Omsk will go on to face Dynamo Moscow in the Gagarin Cup Finals.

MHL Western Conference Finals (Russia Jr.):
Nikita Gusev scored a pair of third period goals to lead CSKA Jr. to a 3-2, Game One, comeback victory. Nikita Kucherov again did not play in the match. Game Two is Saturday.

Steven Stamkos was named the game's third star. He'll get one crack to get the one goal he needs to get to 60.

Congratulations to Martin St. Louis for his 9th straight 25 goal season. That's amazing consistency from a small player who played the bulk of his career in the clutch and grab era.

In case I haven't mentioned it, I loves me some Brian Lee. 3 shots, 5 hits, and he set up Marty's goal. Steve Yzerman robbed Ottawa blind in that deal. Not saying Gilroy's a bum, but Lee is a potential stud 2-way blueliner in this league, and I'm still stunned why the Sens gave up on him. The only thing I can think is that he never blew up offensively to the degree they thought he would. Still, to give up that skating ability and that willingness to step up and deliver a hit for a player as inconsistent as Gilroy? C'mon, man.

Brett Connolly will look back on his rookie season one day and laugh. It's been a hard one, and tonight's own-goal put the punctuation on that. He's immensely talented and creative, though. There are better days ahead.

Keith Aulie had 1 shot and 2 hits in 15:50 against his old club. Good for him breaking the 15 minute barrier in IT.

J.T. Brown was -1 with 1 shot and 1 hit in 15:11. It'd be nice to see him hit the scoresheet in the finale.

J.T. Wyman had 5 shots and 1 hit in 10:52. The coaches love him. He'll enter next season a slight favorite for a spot in Tampa Bay, I surmise.